2014 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis tags out Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout at home during the first inning of an exhibition spring training baseball game Thursday, March 6, 2014, in Tempe, Ariz. Trout tried to stretch a triple into an inside the park home run. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The Associated Press

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis tags out Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout at home during the first inning of an exhibition spring training baseball game Thursday, March 6, 2014, in Tempe, Ariz. Trout tried to stretch a triple into an inside the park home run. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Which means draft day is right around the corner so it's time to get prepared. ESPN's Mock Draft Lobby is a useful tool. I was joined by seven other humans, and four machines.

(Not sure why the Wachowskis left our future overlord's love of fantasy sports out of the Matrix Trilogy.)

Without further ado, here's my 2014 fantasy baseball mock draft:

Round: 1

(1) Team VALDES - Prince Fielder 1B

(2) Team Laffoon - Mike Trout CF

(3) Team Morrisette - Miguel Cabrera 3B

(4) Team 4 - Andrew McCutchen CF

(5) Team 5 - Paul Goldschmidt 1B

(6) Team 6 - Chris Davis 1B

(7) Team Keeler - Robinson Cano 2B

(8) Team 8 - Carlos Gonzalez LF

(9) Team fletcher - Jacoby Ellsbury CF

(10) Team Doss - Edwin Encarnacion 1B

(11) Team Stipp - Ryan Braun LF

(12) Team Brown - Clayton Kershaw SP

Notes: Team VALDES must be a Rangers fan! Trout is the best player on the planet, whether it's real, fantasy or video games. I won't have any discussion on the subject, and that's not simply because he's helped me win back-to-back league championships. It's because he has just finished putting together the best two-year start to a career in the history of the sport, and he appears to be getting better in the process. Team Stipp has some testicular fortitude, drafting Braun in the first round. It's hard to question his skills, but his body has started to betray him. I owned him in 2012, and he was on the verge of missing significant time all year. I was lucky he didn't. He no longer has the "juice" to protect him. My strategy is too draft one or two pitchers in the top half of the draft, and load up on offense. There's always good value with pitchers later in the draft, but the key to making this work is making sure the two pitchers you grab early are aces. Kershaw is the Trout of pitching.

Round: 2

(13) Team Brown - Bryce Harper LF

(14) Team Stipp - Troy Tulowitzki SS

(15) Team Doss - Adrian Beltre 3B

(16) Team fletcher - Adam Jones CF

(17) Team 8 - Carlos Gomez CF

(18) Team Keeler - Hanley Ramirez SS

(19) Team 6 - Jason Kipnis 2B

(20) Team 5 - David Wright 3B

(21) Team 4 - Yu Darvish SP

(22) Team Morrisette - Joey Votto 1B

(23) Team Laffoon - Dustin Pedroia 2B

(24) Team VALDES - Adam Wainwright SP

Notes: Harper's season last year was a tease. Get ready to spend for his breakout campaign in D.C. Not only has he added a ridiculous amount of muscle to his frame, he seems more relaxed so far this Spring. Remember, his Wins Above Replacement through his age-20 season (9.0) is the fourth most of anyone in baseball history, behind only Trout, Mel Ott and Ty Cobb. Something special is coming. Cano will get drafted higher, but Kipnis has supplanted him as the best second baseman in fantasy. He batted 93 points and slugged 198 points higher against left-handers than he did in 2012. He increased his overall walk rate from 10.0 to 11.6 percent, and he was the third least-likely to swing at a pitch outside the strike zone in baseball (17.4 percent rate). In the process, Kipnis became the sixth-youngest second baseman in history to manage a 15/30 season.